Monday, December 10, 2007

The Pirates of Coney Island Issue #6 Due Out This Month

The sixth issue of the comic book 'The Pirates of Coney Island' (which was mentioned here on KC last year) will be shipping this week. The title- which is written by Rick Spears and illustrated by Vasillis Lolos (with occasional help from the prolific Becky Cloonan)- debuted last fall on Image Comics. In an interview with Comic Book Resources last year, Spears summed up the general premise of the series:"'The Pirates of Coney Island' is a riotous, teenage, romp through young love, car jacking and gang violence. The Pirates are a gang of runaways that steal cars and generally terrorize Coney Island."

While this may not reflect the actual reality of life in Coney Island, such a story definitely has a precedent in the classic Coney Island novel and film (and now video game), 'The Warriors.' In general, considering it's reputation as a 'dreamland,' Coney seems like a natural inspiration for comics. Later in the same interview, Spears explains why he chose Coney Island as the series' setting:

"Coney Island is like this magical place off on the edge of the world where wild and amazing things are possible or at least so it seems. It's a weird example of the American dream, filled with fun and hope but also dark, dangerous, neglected and now fallen into disrepair."